General Manager's Corner
By: Tim Hestle
How is the Nashville District Energy System like a high-performance stock car?
Anyone who follows NASCAR, currently the largest spectator sport in the country, realizes that it takes a lot of preparation to get a car ready for a race. Chassis have to be set up, engines have to be tuned, tires have to be selected and aired up to just the right pressure to achieve optimum performance. When all these things are done, and done correctly, chances are the car is going to be reliable. The rest is up to the driver.
In preparation for the summer cooling season — our “Sunday race” — maintenance activities in the DES electrical switch-gear yard have been completed. We’ve inspected the chillers and associated equipment, cleaned and eddy-current-tested the tubes, checked the oil and refrigerant levels, and tuned the controls so that we can achieve optimum performance from our equipment. The Constellation maintenance staff is like a NASCAR pit crew, making sure the equipment is ready. Our operations staff is our driver. We have a winning history over the past four and a half years. Our reliability for delivering efficient, dependable service to the district energy system’s customers has been more than 99 percent.
Even if you are not a racing enthusiast, all of us have experience with our own automobiles. As they get older, they tend to need more care and attention to keep them running reliably. It is very important to change the oil regularly, check all of the engine fluids, check the brakes and tires, etc. When these things are not done, vehicles start costing more to operate. For instance, when something as simple as making sure we have the correct tire pressure is not done, it causes our vehicle’s fuel economy to diminish and our tires to wear out faster. With the increasing cost of gasoline, and everything else for that matter, it is very important that these things are maintained.
Similarly, many downtown buildings have older air-handling units. In order for building owners or tenants to get reliable, efficient cooling from their AHUs, they need to be maintained. Coils need to be cleaned periodically, filters need to be changed monthly and units should be balanced to achieve optimum performance. Prolonging the life and performance of equipment is a bottom-line issue for building owners and managers these days. Let’s face it, equipment does wear out and get outdated. Sometimes we have to buy a new car, and sometimes building owners are going to have to replace or upgrade their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. I suggest, when this time comes, an energy management system (EMS) be included as an upgrade. You would be surprised at the potential energy savings that can be achieved with an EMS.
In every race, cars get bumped and scraped. The ones that wreck seldom, if ever, cross the finish line. We may experience a bump or two, but we will cross the finish line in good shape. I am confident we will have another winning cooling season this summer.